The funny thing is I was debating about learning how to use my Roomba. After reading this story, all Alexa is getting is deez nuts. A man shared his story of how his Amazon smart home was shut down because an Amazon driver thought he heard a racial slur. The man lost all access to his Amazon smart products pending an investigation.

As far as context "gotta hear both sides" malarky, this is one man's claim. However, the man shared his videos and information with YouTuber Louis Rossmann. He didn't want to dox himself in his Medium post, which makes sense considering what he went through.

The man has a smart home. His primary means of interfacing with all the devices and automations is through Amazon Echo devices. One day his devices went unresponsive. And when he asked Alexa what was wrong, she said "Nothing."

The [Amazon] representative told me I should have received an email, which I indeed found in my inbox. It was from an executive at Amazon. As I dialed the number provided in the email, I half-wondered if Amazon was experiencing some issues and I was unwittingly falling into a scam.

When I connected with the executive, they asked if I knew why my account had been locked. When I answered I was unsure, their tone turned somewhat accusatory. I was told that the driver who had delivered my package reported receiving racist remarks from my “Ring doorbell.”

Here's the rub... no one was home at the time. And it wasn't a Ring doorbell, it was a different brand. That doorbell's automated response when the Amazon driver dropped off packages was “Excuse me, can I help you?” The driver, who was wearing headphones, claimed he heard something else. He even provided video evidence of this, but Amazon did not care.

The timing couldn’t have been worse: the onset of Labor Day weekend was approaching, and I was keen to resolve the issue before the long weekend. However, despite numerous calls and emails, it wasn’t until Friday afternoon that I received confirmation that the investigation had started. I was told to expect a response within two business days, meaning not until Tuesday of the following week at the earliest.

His account was finally unlocked the next Wednesday.

We have seen other examples of this: a "smart" thermostat shutting a man out of lowering his air conditioning (for schlimate change reasons), Tesla sending GOVERNMENT MESSAGES to all cars about "the strong suggestion" to conserve electricity, etc. This example is the most extreme. And while it would have still been bullsh*t even had the man said a mean word to the driver, the fact the man wasn't even home makes it worse.

Today it's a driver claiming to have heard something he didn't hear. What when it's a customer who expressed an opinion online that corporate Amazon employees don't like? As it is, you don't even have to write a "problematic" post yourself to get canceled these days. You only need to like someone else's.

This is the world progressives want for you. It's why their vision of a cashless society or "owning nothing and liking it" is terrifying. They WANT to be able to shut you down on a whim. Today it's someone claiming you said a bad word (that you weren't home to say). Tomorrow it will be a social media post. Or spreading what others claim is "misinformation."

With a snap of the fingers, this man lost the use of the items HE OWNS. All over a misunderstanding. You can just as easily be locked out of your "smart" home for the same.

Pay attention, America.

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Brodigan is Grand Poobah of this here website and when he isn't writing words about things enjoys day drinking, pro-wrestling, and country music. You can find him on the Twitter too.

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